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Register an Existing SOP As It Is (File-based SOP)

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You can register the SOPs you currently use, created in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, or similar formats, as Dive SOPs in their original layout, without splitting them into steps (file-based SOPs). SOP management features such as organizing with folders, setting viewing permissions, search, approval and revision, and view records all work as usual. Use this when you want to distribute the files you already use to the field without changing how they look.

Registering and replacing files is done from a PC browser by users who can edit the SOP. This is available on all plans. Direct editing in Office on Windows, opening in read-only mode (Open on desktop), and file translation are available on the Pro and Enterprise plans.

What is a file-based SOP?

A regular SOP is created by assigning videos, images, and text to each step. A file-based SOP has no steps. It is an SOP format that opens and shows one registered file.

If you want to split the contents of a file into steps with AI, use Create an SOP from a file (Excel, Word, and PowerPoint supported). For how to choose between the two, see "Choosing Between This and Creating Steps with AI" in this article.

Files you can register

From the [Register existing SOPs] screen, and from [Upload from computer], [Teams / SharePoint], and [Google Drive] under [File-based SOP settings], you can register PDF, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files (Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides are imported as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files). URLs, zip files, and other formats are registered from [Choose from materials] under [File-based SOP settings]. How a file looks when viewed depends on its format.

PDF

PDF files are displayed as they are, right inside the Dive screen.

Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

When you register the file, a PDF for display is created so it can be shown on the screen. AI processing is not used. Downloading retrieves the original file (such as .xlsx).

For Excel (.xlsx and .xlsm), you can choose how the PDF for display is made under [Conversion method] in [File-based SOP settings]. If you change the choice, the PDF is recreated from the original file right away.

  • [Print settings] (Default): Follows the print settings of the original file (print area, page breaks, and scaling). If the print settings are set correctly, the display is closest to the original.
  • [Fit width to 1 page]: Fits only the width onto one page so that columns are not cut off (the height spans multiple pages). Suited to wide tables.
  • [1 sheet = 1 page]: Fits each sheet onto one page.

If a PDF for display could not be created, "No PDF for display" is shown in [File-based SOP settings]. Press [Create PDF for display] to recreate it from the original file. You can also create it the same way for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files that have not been through AI processing, selected from [Choose from materials]. (Files that have been through AI processing use the PDF created by AI processing as is.)

URL

You can register pages such as your company portal. Choose them from the [URL] tab under [Choose from materials]. If the page allows embedding, it is displayed on the screen. If it does not allow embedding, it is displayed with [Open in new window].

Excel, etc., Others

Compressed files such as zip, CAD files, and text files (txt, csv, md, etc.) can also be registered from the [Excel, etc., Others] tab under [Choose from materials].

However, videos, images, PDFs, and 3D models (fbx) are handled in their own dedicated tabs, so they cannot be uploaded to [Others]. (The message "This file type cannot be uploaded as 'Others'" is displayed.) If you want to use videos or images in an SOP, create a regular SOP.

Files in [Others] cannot be displayed in the browser, so when viewing them, a "Download" button is shown and the file opens after downloading. (Text files such as txt and csv may be displayed on the screen.)

Whether a file can be downloaded depends on the permission settings for each role. For details, see Permitted user roles per feature (role restrictions for download, export, and sharing).

How to register

There are two ways to register. To register a new file, follow the steps under "Register from the Register existing SOPs screen." To switch an SOP you have already created to a file-based SOP, follow the steps under "Register from the Basic information tab."

Register from the Register existing SOPs screen

  1. In the sidebar, select [+] → [Register existing SOPs]
  2. Drag the file you want to register (PDF, Word, Excel, or PowerPoint) onto the screen, or click to choose it. If you choose several files at once, a draft is created for each file. For files in Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, or Google Drive, choose [Teams / SharePoint] or [Google Drive] under [Bring in from the cloud]
  3. If you choose only one file, the draft that is created opens right away. If you choose two or more, open them from the list of created drafts with [Open]. Files that could not be created show the reason, and you can try again with [Try again]
  4. The title is set to the file name, and the cover is the first page of the file. Check the contents and publish. To open it later, use [Drafts / Approvals List]

Files registered this way do not appear in the [Materials] list. Because AI is not used, they do not count toward your AI processing usage.

To use a file in [Materials], choose it from [Choose from materials] on the same screen, then select [File as is] at the top of [How do you want to import the file?]. PDF, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files that have not been through AI processing can also be selected.

今ある手順書を登録の画面

Register from the Basic information tab

  1. Open the SOP editing screen. To create a new SOP, select [Create from scratch] in the creation method selection. To switch a published SOP, create a revision and open the draft
  2. Open the [Basic information] tab
  3. Open [File-based SOP settings] and turn on [Use as a file-based SOP]
  4. Open the [Step details] tab (you can also open it from [Open step details]), and set the file using one of [Upload from computer], [Teams / SharePoint], [Google Drive], or [Choose from materials] under [File-based SOP settings]. With [Choose from materials], you can select from the [PDF], [URL], and [Excel, etc., Others] tabs
  5. Enter the title, overview, thumbnail, and so on, then save and publish

手順内容タブのファイル手順書の設定と表示用のPDF

When [Use as a file-based SOP] is turned on, the [Step details] tab shows the contents of the PDF for display instead of steps. Users who can edit also see [File-based SOP settings], so they can set things up while looking at the file. (You can drag to change the width of the left and right panes.) The SOP editing screen always opens from the [Step details] tab. For a file without a PDF for display (such as a URL), the [Step details] tab for users who can only view shows "This SOP is set as a 'File-based SOP'". To go back to the format that creates steps, turn off [Use as a file-based SOP].

Replace or remove the registered file

To replace a file, do it on the draft editing screen. For a published SOP, create a revision to make a draft, then replace the file, and approve and publish it.

From [Replace] in [File-based SOP settings] on the [Step details] tab, choose [Upload from computer], [Teams / SharePoint], [Google Drive], or [Choose from materials] to replace the file. A file uploaded with [Upload from computer] or similar is replaced directly as the draft's file (it does not appear in the [Materials] list). To remove a file from this draft, use the trash can icon to the right of the file name. The file itself is not deleted.

When you choose a file from [Choose from materials], [Apply the file’s content to the SOP as well?] is shown. The items you check are replaced with the contents of the selected file (all items are checked at first).

  • Thumbnail Image
  • Title
  • Overview
  • Items used (added to the current items used)
  • Related files (the original file is added)

Items with no content that can be read from the file are not shown. Press [Apply] to replace them, or press [Keep as is] to replace only the file.

Retrieve the file from a previous Rev

Even after you replace a file, the file from the previous Rev remains. Open [View revision history] in the publication information on the SOP editing screen, and from [Download the file for this Rev] in each Rev's row, you can retrieve that Rev's original file (the file name becomes "Rev number_original file name").

This is shown only to users who are permitted to use Download of file-based SOPs. Users who cannot edit the SOP see only the published Revs.

Edit directly in Office on Windows

On a Windows PC, from [Edit on desktop] in [File-based SOP settings], you can open Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files in Office, edit them, and save them directly to the draft with Ctrl+S (Pro and Enterprise plans). For details, see Edit a file-based SOP directly in Office on Windows (Edit on desktop).

How it looks on the floor

When you open an SOP from a folder or search, the registered file is displayed full screen. The following actions are available at the top of the screen. (On narrow screens such as smartphones, Attached files and Download are shown as icons only.)

  • Translation: When you choose a language, the file is displayed as a machine translation (Pro and Enterprise plans. View file-based SOPs and step PDFs in translation (machine translation))
  • Attached files: Opens the list of related files linked to this SOP (shown only when there are related files)
  • Download / Open in new window: Retrieves the file. When Excel, Word, or PowerPoint is displayed after conversion to PDF, the original file (such as .xlsx) is retrieved (when offline, the PDF being displayed is retrieved). When you are viewing a translation, the translated file is retrieved. If a URL is registered, it opens in a new window
  • Completion report: Records that the work is finished, with a comment attached

Records of opening are kept the same way as for regular SOPs, so you can check who opened the SOP and when. Opened file-based SOPs also appear under [View history] on the home screen and in the sidebar. They can also be viewed from smart glasses and mobile devices. (On smart glasses, the Attached files and Download buttons are not displayed.)

A file-based SOP you have opened once stays on the device and can be opened offline. (This does not apply to teams set not to keep View data on devices, or to PDFs larger than 50 MB.) To use a file-based SOP you have never opened while offline, preload it in advance.

How to tell them apart in folders and search

In the folder list, file-based SOPs have a "File-based SOP" label (or "File" when the list is shown as a table), and an icon for the original file type (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, etc.) is displayed. In the folder list filter and in [Features] on the search screen, there is [File-based SOP], so you can list only file-based SOPs.

The text inside files is also searched. When a match is found in the body text, the matching page is shown, and clicking it opens that page. Scanned PDFs without text cannot be searched by body text (they can be found by SOP name, etc.). For details, see Full-text search.

Differences in available features from regular SOPs

Because file-based SOPs have no steps, the following features are not available.

  • Exporting SOPs (PDF, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, MP4)
  • Questions and checks for each step
  • Subtitles and read-aloud (translation is available by machine-translating the file, on the Pro and Enterprise plans)
  • Searching within an SOP, and jump URLs for each step

The following features can be used in the same way as regular SOPs.

  • Organizing with folders and access restrictions
  • Approval workflow and revisions
  • Sharing outside the company with share URLs and guest invitations
  • View records and completion reports
  • Attaching related files
  • Search (including the text inside files)

Choosing Between This and Creating Steps with AI

Frequently asked questions

Q. I registered an Excel file, but it is not displayed on the screen and downloads instead.
A. When there is no PDF for display, the file cannot be displayed in the browser, so it is provided as a download. If "No PDF for display" is shown in [File-based SOP settings] on the [Basic information] tab, press [Create PDF for display]. If it still cannot be created, the reason is shown.

Q. Can I convert it back to a regular SOP later?
A. If you turn off [Use as a file-based SOP] in [File-based SOP settings], the [Step details] tab becomes editable. However, steps are not created automatically, so either create the steps yourself or recreate the SOP with Create an SOP from a file.

Q. Can I replace a registered file with a new version?
A. Create a revision, then replace the file from [Replace] in [File-based SOP settings] on the [Basic information] tab. The SOP URL does not change. The file from the previous Rev remains and can be retrieved from [View revision history].

Q. Can I register a zip file?
A. Yes. In [File-based SOP settings], choose [Choose from materials], then upload from the [Excel, etc., Others] tab. When viewing, the file is not displayed on the screen; it opens after downloading. Note that zip files are not covered by Create an SOP from a file.

Q. Can I register a page on our company portal?
A. In [File-based SOP settings], choose [Choose from materials] and register the page from the [URL] tab. Depending on the page's settings, it may not be embeddable on the screen. In that case, it is displayed with [Open in new window].

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